In a case involving what prosecutors believe is the worst traffic fatality in Montgomery County history, 12 jurors were seated Monday in the trial of a man accused of racing and causing the deaths of five people in a Jan. 10, 2009, wreck.

Brandon Lee Ferguson, 23, is charged with five counts of manslaughter with a deadly weapon and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He is accused of racing his Chevrolet Cobalt on Texas 249, which has a speed limit of 65 mph, and colliding with a Toyota van traveling west and attempting to cross Texas 249 at Partridge Circle.

Testimony begins this morning in the 9th state District Court of Judge Fred Edwards.

Four people inside the van - Donald Lee Sexton, 60, of College Station; his parents, Lloyd and Catherine Edwards, both 83, of Salina, Okla.; and Sexton’s uncle, Curtis Charles Edward, 70, of Pinehurst - died when Ferguson’s Cobalt allegedly hit it. Kayla Ann Pratorius, 18, of Magnolia, Ferguson’s passenger and girlfriend, also died in the collision.

One passenger in the van was ejected in the collision, while three passengers were still trapped in it when it burst into flames.

The wreck also sent Karla Kay Sexton, 59, of College Station, who was riding in the van, to the hospital with injuries that included two cracks in her pelvis, a crack in her spinal cord, a crack in her neck and damage to her liver, she previously told The Courier.

Don Lambright, the attorney defending Ferguson, asked jurors if they believed a case could include a punishment range that goes up to 20 years in prison per count or probation.

“There is something in between,” he said. “We want 12 clean sponges to come in without preconceived notions.”

If he is found guilty, Ferguson faces two to 20 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000 for each count of manslaughter and aggravated assault, both second-degree felonies.

“We are seeking a fair trial,” Lambright said.

Prosecutor Warren Diepraam did not want to say what punishment range the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office is seeking in the case.

“We believe this to be the worst traffic fatality in Montgomery County,” he said. “We’ll ask the jury to render a sentence consistent with the crime.”

An investigation by the Texas Department of Public Safety determined that Ferguson, who was indicted in July, allegedly was driving his vehicle 117 mph on Texas 249 when it hit the van.

Ferguson’s father, Mark Graham, previously told The Courier that he and his wife had fixed up the Cobalt for Ferguson, and it was taken out of the shop a few days before the accident.

A prosecutor with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office also previously told The Courier that he believed Ferguson was racing a motorcycle just before the wreck. A witness to the crash told DPS troopers they saw a motorcycle pass just moments before the Cobalt and van collided.